The Moral Equivalent of Our Founding Fathers

For the last several days I've watched the cable pundits argue back and forth about whether President Obama's strategy of staying on the sidelines of the Iranian Revolution was wise. When liberal pundits and Pat Buchanan argued that Obama's nuanced policy was just what was needed I was convinced they were right, until a conservative came on the tube and said that it was important for the morale of the protesters to see the American President was behind them. I went back and forth like that several times.

But after watching video of the brutal crackdown and remembering the words of former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky, I think the President has made a critical mistake.

In 1983, Sharansky was imprisoned in a Soviet prison when word reached him and his fellow prisoners that Ronald Reagan had ignored advice from his own State Department which favored an Obama-like nuanced position, and labeled the Soviet Union an "Evil Empire" and "the focus of evil in the modern world."

"The dissidents were ecstatic," said Sharansky years later. "Finally, the leader of the free world had spoken the truth--a truth that burned inside the heart of each and every one of us."

To paraphrase Reagan from another time and place, you who are fighting for freedom and democracy in Iran are the moral equivalent of our Founding Fathers and though our President may have chosen to stay on the sidelines, others like the Huffington Post which has covered this story relentlessly, and millions of Americans have not and we are cheering you on as you struggle against tyranny.

Follow Mark Joseph on Twitter: www.twitter.com/markmjm

Comments

[citizensrus]

Okay, Mark...You are President. Tell me what international action you will take unilaterally.

[retromega]

Do you have any idea where and what Sharansky is addressing now? He lives in Israel and is seeking more privledge and land for a people he thinks are chosen by god to do what Sharansky thinks they should do. I hardly think that any Iranian dissident is as impressed with your argument as you seem to be. Nor do I think that you have struck a blow for the freedom of the much diminished jewish population of Iran.

If, as it is said, "a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing" then it would appear that this article falls into the category of "and very little knowledge is even worst but a lot easier to acquire."

[claudiam]

No Mark - it is not our job to police the world. We do not need to be beating our chests like the Repubs. claudiatucsonaz

[cosmicbullfight]

The Iranian demonstrators have been on the streets for about a week now in full force. I don't think they need any token motivation from Barack Obama. Also, the Iranian gov't doesn't need any more motivation to kill innocent people on the grounds that they're supposed Western tools of infiltration.

[Macready]

totally agree with you cosmicbullfight . . .

[MajorKong]

Actually Reagan used the "moral equivalent of our Founding Fathers" to describe the Contras in Nicaragua.

I don't recall any of our Founding Fathers having been members of a deposed dictator's security forces.

[citizensrus]

I've noticed this quote on Reagan making the rounds in Republican circles the last couple of days.

[blaqntelligence]

"''''said that it was important for the morale of the protesters to see the American President was behind them."

American arrogance at its finest.
The implication here is the Iranian people are willing to suffer physical pain but will not feel their struggle is meaningful until America puts her stamp of approval on it?

"though our President may have chosen to stay on the sidelines"

You do realize you, and I, and everyone else operate from a different place than the president? You can offer support from the anonymity of cyberspace while our president must stand face to face with whoever will be their leader.
It's easy to yell "git 'er'done" when that's all the effort you have to expend.

[Andrew Hill 1]

Yikes! I could not disagree more . . .

Iran and the U.S.S.R. are the proverbial apple and orange with regard to external meddling by the U.S.. Religion, cultural sentiment, economics historical context and geography all combine to create to extremely disparate scenarios. Beware the simple solutions!

The Middle East (Persia included) have battled the West for centuries while Russia has desperately sought full membership in the European "community." From Peter the Great through Stalin and Gorbachev, there has been no higher priority for Russia than to equal or "best" the West. Iran (Persia) suffers from no such inferiority complex.